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MANDI VIVACQUA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Schuylkill Haven’s Kobe Brish (28) runs through a host of players en route to the end zone during Friday’s non-league game with Tamaqua. Brish rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns, but Tamaqua used a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to grab a 41-27 victory.

TAMAQUA — Standing 6-foot-5 and possessing great hands and good athleticism, Casey Rother is a valuable weapon for the Tamaqua offense.

With the game on the line Friday in a back-and-forth non-league clash with Schuylkill Haven, the Blue Raiders went to the big tight end when it mattered most.

Rother broke a fourth-quarter tie with a 12-yard touchdown reception, his second of the game, helping Tamaqua capture a 41-27 victory over the Hurricanes.

Nick Breiner added a late touchdown and finished with 224 yards rushing as the Blue Raiders improved to 3-0.

“I just tried to make a play, just trying to do everything I can for the team,” Rother said. “If it goes up, I’m coming down with it.

“It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve never experienced something like this. We just want to keep it going.”

A power outage in Tamaqua delayed the start of the game a

half-hour, but the contest never lacked for explosive plays.

Breiner opened the scoring on the game’s second play with a 56-yard jaunt, but Schuylkill Haven’s Kobe Brish answered two plays later with a 64-yard TD run.

The Blue Raiders forged ahead 21-7 on an 8-yard TD pass from Brayden Knoblauch to Thad Zuber and a 25-yard TD pass from Zuber to Nate Boyle.

Schuylkill Haven (0-3) sliced its deficit to 21-14 on Brandon Koch’s 71-yard punt return, but couldn’t capitalize on a potential game-tying possession late in the first half. Dawson Evitts’ 42-yard field-goal attempt was wide right as the Blue Raiders took a 21-14 lead into intermission.

In the locker room, the Tamaqua coaching staff focused on getting the ball more to Rother, who was held without a catch in the opening half.

“I said at halftime that we had to get Casey more involved in this game,” Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said. “We thought we could get some stuff away from our trips and on play-action, especially down on the goal line.

“Casey is a 6-foot-5 target. He has nice hands. He made some big plays for us. ”

Tamaqua put that plan into operation on its first possession, marching 70 yards on nine plays. An 11-yard pass from Zuber to Rother upped Tamaqua’s lead to 27-14.

Schuylkill Haven, however, didn’t quit.

Brish, who finished with 185 yards on 16 carries, raced 46 yards for a score three plays after Rother’s touchdown, then plunged in from 3 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie the game.

The two consecutive scores gave the Hurricanes the momentum entering the final stanza.

"I'd be the first to say it seemed a little shaky there when they came back to tie it up on us,” Bonner said. “A couple of our senior leaders made some big plays for us in the fourth quarter.

"Schuylkill Haven was a very good 0-2 team and they were hungry and looking for a win. We were fortunate that we were able to hold them off and make some big plays at the end.”

Tamaqua followed Brish’s final score with a eight-play, 69-yard drive during which Zuber was 3-for-3 for 34 yards passing. His 12-yard fade route to Rother in the end zone put the Blue Raiders ahead 33-27, and his two-point conversion pass to Rother gave Tamaqua a 35-27 lead.

After the Tamaqua defense forced a three-and-out that included a sack by Matt Amodea, Breiner capped a five-play drive with a game-clinching, 32-yard TD. A 27-yard pass from Knoblauch to Zuber set up Breiner’s final score.

For the season, Breiner has rushed for 543 yards and scored eight touchdowns.

“This feels great,” Breiner said. “It feels amazing. Our team works hard together and we get the job done.”

For Schuylkill Haven, Friday’s contest was a step forward despite the defeat. The Hurricanes played physical and with emotion throughout, were in the contest the entire way and were one or two plays from coming out on top.

Considering Haven’s brutal non-league schedule — all Division I teams — the Hurricanes are on the right track to a big second half of the season.

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